Türkiye has announced the discovery of what is being described as the 'world's oldest shipwreck' following underwater excavations near Kekova island in the southern province of Antalya.
In a statement on X on Wednesday, Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said archaeologists had recovered storage jars dating back about 4,700 years, to the early Bronze Age. The vessel appears to have capsized and sunk, with its wooden hull no longer intact, but the jars were preserved on the seabed.
The underwater excavation project began earlier this year. According to the Turkish Culture Ministry, the jars — believed to have been used to transport olive oil or wine — offer concrete evidence of early maritime trade and cultural exchange in the eastern Mediterranean.
Clay analysis indicates the jars were produced in workshops in the Jordan Valley, matching similar styles previously found in Egypt, Türkiye and Greece, reflecting far-reaching Bronze Age sea routes.
One jar in particular stands out for its unique design: nine markings and two holes on its body, suggesting it may have been used for churning butter or making cheese.
Researchers surmise the ship was en route from the Levantine coast toward what is now Hisarlik in Türkiye or the Greek island of Crete when it met with disaster.
The excavation is led by Associate Professor of Archaeology Hakan Oniz of Akdeniz University. Speaking to the BBC, Oniz said that when the team first found the wreck four years ago, the jars looked only a few hundred years old.
'However, we were very excited when we later saw similar amphora forms in a publication on Egyptian archaeology and returned to the site,' he said. 'Indeed, they resemble those found at the Giza pyramids in Egypt. We were extremely excited.'
Minister Ersoy said the discovery had 'shed light on the long history of maritime trade along the coasts of Anatolia.'
